Cruiserweight Title History

Mikk

WC's Sexy Beast

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship is a professional wrestling title, challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 220 lb. It was formerly the World Championship Wrestling Cruiserweight Championship but is now a World Wrestling Entertainment title exclusive to the SmackDown! brand.

History

Prior to its usage in WWE, the Cruiserweight Championship was a popular mainstay in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The WCW Cruiserweight Championship was a highlight of many WCW shows, often serving as fast-paced opening bouts on WCW Monday Nitro and pay-per-view events to get the crowd warmed up.
The WCW Light Heavyweight Championship is recognized by WWE in the lineage of the Cruiserweight Championship. Debuting in 1991, the first champion was Brian Pillman. However, due to a champion's injury, the title was vacated and quickly dropped in 1992.
The first WCW World Cruiserweight Champion was Shinjiro Ohtani who, in 1996, beat Chris Benoit in the finals of an untelevised (and mostly fictional) tournament. The match took place in Japan on a New Japan Pro Wrestling show. The quality of matches and competitors for the belt made it a prestigious title to hold.
Many current and recent WWE wrestlers held the title in WCW, including Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. During WCW's decline, the belt lost much of its prestige due to inept booking and the title reigns of Madusa and Oklahoma.
When Canadian wrestler Lance Storm held the Cruiserweight Championship, he renamed it the 100 Kilograms and Under Championship, which he later gave to Elix Skipper.
Shane Helms was the last Cruiserweight champion before the company was bought out by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 2001.
The WWF used its equivalent belt, the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, starting in 1997. In 2001, during the Invasion angle, X-Pac held both titles at the same time. While holding both belts, X-Pac lost and later regained the Light Heavyweight Championship in matches against Tajiri. After losing the Cruiserweight Championship to Billy Kidman, he was injured and taken off television. During his absence, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship became known as the WWF Cruiserweight Championship (and later, the WWE Cruiserweight Championship). X-Pac returned to television without the Light Heavyweight Championship, and the Light Heavyweight Championship was abandoned. The Cruiserweight Championship was the only title to be recognized as a WWE championship while having another promotion's logo (WCW) visibly on it. The belt was later replaced with a new design in the middle of 2002.
Since 2004 (specifically during Spike Dudley's reign), the championship has often been referred to as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship of the World.



Statistics

Record:	Record holder:	Record number:	Notes:
Most reigns	Rey Mysterio	8	Mysterio held the WCW incarnation 5 times and held the WWE incarnation 3 times.
Longest reign	Gregory Helms	385 days (c. 1 year 20 days)	Won the title at the Royal Rumble 2006; lost at No Way Out 2007
Shortest reign	Psicosis	Less than 1 hour	Psicosis won and lost the title during the first hour of WCW Monday Nitro on October 4, 1999 in Kansas City, Missouri. Psychosis allegedly won the title from Lenny Lane at a house show earlier that week, but in reality, Lane's flamboyantly gay character was deemed too controversial and pulled from the air. Psicosis was given the title just long enough to lose it to Disco Inferno.
Oldest champion	Chavo Classic	55 years	Chavo Classic won the title on the May 18, 2004 episode of Smackdown from Chavo Guerrero Jr. after falling on him in a triple threat match involving Spike Dudley.
Youngest champion	Rey Mysterio	21 years	WCW Nitro July 8, 1996 vs. Dean Malenko
Heaviest Champion	Oklahoma	260 lb	Forfeited the title after winning it from Madusa due to being over the Cruiserweight limit.
Lightest Champion	Daffney	120 lb	The Second lightest is Jacqueline, at 130, the lightest male being Spike Dudley at 150 lb.

Trivia

• The only wrestlers to hold the Cruiserweight Championship in both its WCW and WWE incarnations are Tajiri, Billy Kidman, Gregory Helms, Rey Mysterio, Juventud, and Chavo Guerrero. Of the wrestlers on that list, only Tajiri never held the belt in WCW, he won the WCW Cruiserweight Title during the Invasion angle.
• Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero are the only former Cruiserweight Champions to have won a World Heavyweight Championship in WWE. Guerrero won the WWE Championship, Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship, and Jericho won both the WWE Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, whom later (in a unification title match at WWE Vengeance) became the first WWE Undisputed Champion.
• Three women have held the Cruiserweight Championship. Madusa and Daffney won the WCW incarnation of the title while Jacqueline won the WWE incarnation.

Rollcall Of Champions

CHAMPION	DEFEATED	LOCATION	DATE
Brian Pillman	Richard Morton	Chattanooga, TN	10-27-91
Jushin Liger	Brian Pillman	Atlanta, GA	12-25-91
Brian Pillman	Jushin Liger	Milwaukee, WI	02-29-92
Scotty Flamingo	Brian Pillman	Augusta, GA	06-20-92
Brad Armstrong	Scotty Flamingo	Atlanta, GA	07-05-92
Shinjiro Otani	Chris Benoit	Nagoya, Japan	03-20-96
Dean Malenko	Shinjiro Otani	Orlando, FL	05-02-96
Rey Mysterio	Dean Malenko	Orlando, FL	07-08-96
Dean Malenko	Rey Mysterio	Las Vegas, NV	10-27-96
Ultimo Dragon	Dean Malenko	Nashville, TN	12-29-96
Dean Malenko	Ultimo Dragon	Milwaukee, WI	01-22-97
Syxx	Dean Malenko	San Francisco, CA	02-24-97
Chris Jericho	Syxx	Los Angeles, CA	06-28-97
Alex Wright	Chris Jericho	Charleston, WV	07-28-97
Chris Jericho	Alex Wright	Colorado Springs, CO	08-12-97
Eddie Guerrero	Chris Jericho	Winston-Salem, NC	09-14-97
Rey Mysterio	Eddie Guerrero	Las Vegas, NV	10-26-97
Eddie Guerrero	Rey Mysterio	Memphis, TN	11-10-97
Ultimo Dragon	Eddie Guerrero	Baltimore, MD	12-29-97
Juventud Guerrera	Ultimo Dragon	Daytona Beach, FL	01-08-98
Rey Mysterio	Juventud Guerrera	Lakeland, FL	01-15-98
Chris Jericho	Rey Mysterio	Dayton, OH	01-24-98
Dean Malenko	Chris Jericho	Worcester, MA	05-17-98
Chris Jericho	Dean Malenko	Baltimore, MD	06-14-98
Juventud Guerrera	Chris Jericho	Sturgis, SD	08-08-98
Billy Kidman	Juventud Guerrera	Greenville, SC	09-14-98
Juventud Guerrera	Billy Kidman	Wichita, KS	11-16-98
Billy Kidman	Juventud Guerrera	Auburn Hills, MI	11-22-98
Rey Mysterio	Billy Kidman	Cincinnati, OH	03-15-99
Psicosis	Rey Mysterio	Gainsville, FL	04-19-99
Rey Mysterio	Psicosis	Fargo, ND	04-26-99
Lenny Lane	Rey Mysterio	Lubbock, TX	08-19-99
Disco Inferno	Psicosis	Kansas City, MO	10-04-99
Psicosis	n/a	Kansas City, MO	10-04-99
Evan Karagias	Disco Inferno	Toronto, ON	11-21-99
Madusa	Evan Karagias	Washington, DC	12-19-99
Oklahoma	Madusa	Cincinnati, OH	01-16-00
The Artist	Lash LeRoux	San Francisco, CA	02-20-00
Billy Kidman	The Artist	Baltimore, MD	03-30-00
The Artist	Billy Kidman	Pittsburgh, PA	03-31-00
Chris Candido	n/a	Chicago, IL	04-16-00
Crowbar & Daffney	Chris Candido	Biloxi, MS	05-15-00
Daffney	Crowbar	Grand Rapids, MI	05-22-00
Lt. Loco	Daffney	Knoxville, TN	06-06-00
Lance Storm	Lt. Loco	Cincinnati, OH	07-31-00
Elix Skipper	Lance Storm	Kelowna, B.C.	08-14-00
Mike Sanders	Elix Skipper	San Francisco, CA	10-02-00
Chavo Guerrero	Mike Sanders	Lincoln, NE	12-04-00
Shane Helms	Chavo Guerrero	Jacksonville, FL	03-18-01
Billy Kidman	Shane Helms	Tacoma, WA	07-05-01
X-Pac	Billy Kidman	Philadelphia, PA	07-30-01
Billy Kidman	X-Pac	Moline, IL	10-11-01
Tajiri	Billy Kidman	Kansas City, MO	10-22-01
Billy Kidman	Tajiri	Rochester, NY	04-04-02
Tajiri	Billy Kidman	Kansas City, MO	04-21-02
The Hurricane	Tajiri	Montreal, Quebec	05-16-02
Jamie Noble	The Hurricane	Columbus, OH	06-23-02
Billy Kidman	Jamie Noble	New York, NY	11-17-02
Matt Hardy	Billy Kidman	Montreal, Quebec	02-23-03
Rey Mysterio	Matt Hardy	Anaheim, CA	06-05-03
Tajiri	Rey Mysterio	Philadelphia, PA	09-25-03
Rey Mysterio	Tajiri	Washington, DC	01-01-04
Chavo Guerrero	Rey Mysterio	San Francisco, CA	02-15-04
Jacqueline	Chavo Guerrero	Tucson, AZ	05-06-04
Chavo Guerrero	Jacqueline	Los Angeles, CA	05-16-04
Chavo Classic	Chavo Guerrero	Las Vegas, NV	05-20-04
Rey Mysterio	Chavo Classic	Chicago, IL	06-17-04
Spike Dudley	Rey Mysterio	Cincinnati, OH	07-29-04
Funaki	Spike Dudley	Atlanta, GA	12-12-04
Chavo Guerrero	Funaki	Pittsburgh, PA	02-20-05
Paul London	n/a	Houston, TX	03-31-05
Nunzio	Paul London	Bridgeport, CT	08-06-05
Juventud	Nunzio	Houston, TX	10-09-05
Nunzio	Juventud	Rome, Italy	11-15-05
Juventud	Nunzio	Sheffield, England	11-25-05
Kid Kash	Juventud	Providence, RI	12-18-05
Gregory Helms	Kid Kash	Miami, FL	01-29-06
Chavo Guerrero	Gregory Helms	Los Angeles, Calif.	02-18-07